The Blood Divide
by TheCrazyAuthors
Summary: Fourth volume of the ALBN series. The battle on Nippon may be over, but the war for the Celestial Plain has just begun.


_You know you've all been waiting for it._

_It may have only been a few weeks, but you've all been waiting. Even if you don't care about this series, you've been waiting._

Welcome, one and all, to the next installment of _**A Lily Blooming in Nippon**__: __**The Blood Divide **__of the __**Eye of the Storm **__arc._

_From here, we embark into the uncharted waters of non-canon, but never fear: your esteemed authoress-err, the esteemed narrator and lowly authoress-are here to guide your way! No, I'm not writing this author's note under duress from the narrator, what makes you say that?_

Anyway!

Here we enter the stormy, uncharted seas that few venture into. Fewer come back alive to tell the tale. So seat belts, everyone! ... what do you mean, boats don't have seat belts? Too bad! Remember, keep your limbs firmly attached to your body and inside the ship, don't feed the beastie fishies (cough cough, Bullhead, cough cough), and for the love of Amaterasu and Chibiterasu, do _**not **__anger the Orca._

_And now... away we go!_

**Generic Disclaimer: Senom299 Wants Your Wallet Productions does not own Okami/den or the corresponding characters of the series. She only owns her OCs.**

**0-0-0-0-0**

Something had gone horribly wrong.

The light that dwelled inside all of the heroes of Nippon, of the gods, had just begun to descend into the Dark World when it became obvious. The stars were vanishing. One by one, the constellations of the brush gods blinked out of the midnight sky. The crescent moon began to fade away behind clouds of thick smoke, dying the night black. Embers of dark-hued fire became impenetrable walls of demonic intent, dividing the Celestial Plain into small fragments. Each fragment's divinity was ripped away from it.

The gods were torn from their stations by demons. In truth, it was when the world of demons was at the peak of its power that the incarnation of Yami was taken from his throne. The balance of power in that world had shifted.

_"But didn't you know? This old fox still has some tricks up her sleeve."_

Deep within the underground caverns of the Plain-an network of tunnels that spread through the rock like a disease-the Ark of Yamato had been buried and abandoned. The demons hadn't been purged from it-rather, they thrived. Around every corridor was a group of Imps, or far worse.

_"Who died and made you the leader, fox wench?"_

Demons weren't a stupid race as a whole. Far from it. They mirrored humanity in almost every way, when you stopped and looked at the similarities closely. Golden flames licked the rock walls in a desperate attempt to escape their torches, lined along the entrance to the Ark. In its core, several figures rested in a circle.

Well, most of them did. All but one.

The robed kitsune's tail twitched irritably, its one good eye darting to an armored skeletal... cow. "Who do _you_ think, you rotting sack of bones? It's common knowledge that I'm Yami's-"

"-was, not am, his whore." A spider with a woman's head declared. Nervous laughter rippled through the group of Dark Lords, while Ninetails snapped her eye on her.

"Consider yourself... lucky, that Orochi isn't among us." She growled. "Hold your tongue, Spider Queen. Or I'll cut it out for you."

"Don't. It's far easier to look at than yours." A parasite surrounded by dark green mist remarked dryly. The self-proclaimed leader didn't even bother to alter her gaze.

"Blight."

"Yes, ma'am?" He drawled.

And was then smacked across the chamber and into a wall by the kitsune's tail.

"_Shut. Up._"

There was a brief pause.

"... anyway." Ninetails seemed to regain her composure, eyeing every remaining demon in the circle. "Akuro was flawed compared to Master Yami, and it was by his hand that we lost five valuable allies."

"Valuable?" Crimson Helm snorted out a cloud of dust that had been collecting in his skull. The Spider Queen and Lechku (the closer of the two owls) edged away. "They were all lacking in wits."

"Shame about the Witch Queen not being a direct member of the Second Circle." The Spider Queen mused, head swiveling back and forth and claws tapping against the metal floor rhythmically. "She would have been perfect for the job."

"Shame?" Ninetails echoed slowly. "The fact that she wasn't a part of the Second Circle means that she maintains her life as ruler of the Demon Market. But she is... volatile at best. To invite her to the First Circle could cause any number of interferences with the current plan."

Crimson Helm seemed to shudder. "Volatile's the right word for it. I'd rather _not _have those knives of hers anywhere near me."

"_What's the matter, Helm?_" Nechku's head spun around, eyes unfocused and yet staring at everything. "_Afraid of the butcher, you cow?_"

The skeletal demon glared at the younger of the Twin Demons of Ezofuji. The tension was shattered as soon as Orochi could be heard distantly chanting "_Fight! Fight! Fight!_"

"SILENCE YOURSELF BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU!" Ninetails roared.

"_Awwww..._"

"If I can go five seconds without being interrupted..." Her eye glowed a dangerous shade of crimson, and Crimson Helm and Nechku edged away from each other. "... Akuro's defeat relieved us of one buffoon and the Second Circle. It now sits on the shoulders of the First Circle to carry out the duty that was left to us: to watch the Celestial Plain burn. Spider Queen, what is the state of the River?"

Said arachnid monarch bowed her head somewhat. "Everything has been set in place. Drought is imminent."

"Crimson Helm, the Towers?"

Crimson Helm snorted out more dust. "There's a cat up a tree and a horse locked in his own stable."

"Blight-oh, for darkness' sake." Ninetails leered at the far end of the room and raised her voice. "_Blight, get over here and tell us the state of the Wood._"

The parasite weakly floated off the wall and coughed. "... The Golden Wood is as good as the _Dead _Wood."

"And you two, the mountain?"

Nechku cackled hoarsely, like a senile old man. "_It's all under lockdown._"

His brother didn't look amused. "_Everything is under control._"

"And we all know Orochi has things... under control, as well." Ninetails blanched somewhat. "We've all had our power stolen from us by the gods. It's time to take back what's rightfully ours."

"... _Yeah! Fight! Fight!_"

"OROCHI, SHUT _UP._"

"_Sorry._"

The fox demon let out a howl. "All of you, to your posts! The war on the Celestial Plain begins..."

The torches suddenly blew out, and a purple form appeared above Ninetails. She snarled up at it.

"... as soon as we've taken care of _him_."

**0-0-0**

_"You lied! All of you!"  
_

"_Lily, don't-"_

"No! Not a step closer! I don't have to listen to anything you say!"

The light in her eyes had sharpened with the claws of madness. Gold glinted in the light of the fire-the hammer, the rings on her arms that had been forged for her decades ago.

_"Come on, flower girl, we can explai-"  
_  
Thud.

_The hammer hit the grass._

_"It's too late for that! Try explaining a hundred years ago!"_

The tears burned. They boiled her skin. Was it really tears? She didn't know. Everything was blurry. Everything hurt. Her heart was collapsing on itself.

_She swung again-and hit wood._

_"I can't let you do this, _ma fleur_." _

_And they danced._

_It hurt._

That coward, he ran.

Traitors, all of you.

Are these tears? Why do tears burn?

_Why...?_

**0-0-0**

It feels like everything's changed so quickly.

It was only about three hours ago that everything had seemed so bright and cheerful. Only three hours ago that Chibi and I had finished our business in Nippon, said our goodbyes to everyone, looked forward to getting to see everyone in the Celestial Plain.

It terrifies me how quickly everything went from those hopeful moments to _this._

The crackling of a fire outside the cavern was still going on, and had been for three hours. Crackling was an understatement-it was more like a roar. Oni had confirmed that the group had pretty much been coming through this cavern ever since Chibi and I met up the first time in Nippon, and got burned in by this same blaze. Now, we were using it as a sort of base until we could get our bearings and figure out a plan.

They promised everything would be okay.

They said things would be fine as soon as we were able to move on.

The adults. The immortals, the people who have seen more tragedy than us. The ones who promised they knew what they were doing.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Chibi broke the silence, sitting across from me and staring at the floor. I'd only seen him in a form other than the one he took on the mortal plain once before, and I still couldn't get used to how he looked now. With one hand he fiddled with the braid that came down one side of his face and down to his shoulder, and with the other, tracing the Galestorm stroke in the stone floor.

"Yeah. She's pretty resilient." I crossed my legs and planted my hands against the floor between them, leaning back against the wall. "Right now, the question is when are the others going to get back?"

On the other side of the cavern, an unconscious specter had been lying on the floor for what seemed like hours now. A long burn ran down her forearm, and a bruise was still covering her chest where Waka had finally been able to knock her out with the wooden part of his flute. They had said she was safer this way.

At some point while Chibi and I were in Nippon, Lily had lost her mind. No one would say what had happened to start the change, but she had begun attacking the others. The battle had been going on from a few minutes before Oni left to come get us and went on for a few after we got there.

I wanted to not believe it. Lily had always been my grandmother, no matter which form she took, and now she was pretty much labeled as a mental ward escapee. Or however close to that we could get here.

"Dad said about two hours." The young sun god stared at the floor, expression as downcast as it had ever been. The state of his home and family really was taking its toll on his attitude. "Why couldn't _we _come along? We've been beating up demons for the past few weeks, and all of a sudden it's too dangerous to help out?"

I groaned. Somehow, the topic kept circling back around to this. "They probably had their reaso-"

"It's not like we're in any danger! I mean, we know how to put up a fight!" He ranted. "And then they go and leave Issun to_ babysit _us-"

"Correction, left him for _us _to babysit _him_," I interjected, trying not to bring up that said member of the team had also disappeared. Probably to go join the fun.

"-whatever, and that just makes it worse! They don't _trust _us, Li!"

"That's a load of bull and you _know _it." I sighed through my teeth, struggling to keep the conversation under control. "They trusted us to save Nippon, didn't they? They're just worried about us."

"They don't _need _to be!"

"Chibi-"

"_What?!_" He snapped, glaring up at me. "You know it's true! Look, before you try to come up with another excuse for them, think about _this: _we just _watched my brother die- _killed him because you-know-what, and you barely lived through getting possessed by both your ancestor and a demon at the same time. Sayuri played you and Lily, Li! Remember that you were pretty much _just a tool to her!_"

"_That's _a lie!" I snapped back, getting to my feet. "Sayuri cared enough to set up this whole plot for everyone to lie to us so that we _wouldn't _end up like-"

One glare stopped me in my tracks. He'd had enough.

"Look, I'm sick and tired of it too." I leaned back and took a sharp breath, trying to calm down. "And I know you're upset because we lost Kurow."

"That's an understatement," Chibi grumbled, burying his face in his hands. "It's just... I don't feel like Mom and Dad trust us since we're so much younger, you know? And your grandparents, too."

"I really doubt Lily has an opinion right now." I tried not to look over at the woman's unconscious form, dried blood caking her skin from her fight with Waka earlier. Chibi looked like he wanted to laugh bitterly, but it was hard to tell with the cavern's lighting and the current mood.

"Let's just try and wait a little bit longer. Okay?" I tried to negotiate. "When they come back, we can try and figure all of this out. I know we can't do anything but sit and wait for now, but now you know how I felt waiting for you and your brother to finish up in the Thundercloud."

This actually got a smile out of Chibi. "I think I'd rather be running from the Witch Queen while pushing a mine cart."

"I'd rather be standing around in the ruins of Kaihinmura than here," I smirked.

"That is _not _dangerous."

"No, but it's annoying when you consider your pixie ancestor's standing around prattling on about the history of Ryoshima Coast. Either that or talking to no one in particular." I twirled one finger next to my ear, then crawled across the floor to sit next to him. "Tell you what. We'll play by their rules for now, but when they let us loose-"

The younger sun god grinned broadly. "-then we play by _our _rules!"

I grinned back. "Just because we're the younger generation doesn't mean we don't know how to save the world. They need to remember that we're the ones who just saved Nippon-and made it possible to fix the Celestial Plain again. Anyway, we're just as good of a team as Ammy and Issun."

Suddenly, the fire in front of us went out. A green glow across the room swore.

"Whoops. Didn't mean to use Galestorm."

I leered at Issun. "Don't you have something better to do than put out fires that we _need_? What have you been doing, anyway-_spying_?"

"I don't _spy_, I _gather information_." The Poncle bounced up in front of my face. "And I was coming to tell you that prophet's on his way back over. Looks like they found something up the-"

Chibi suddenly started giggling, and I fought the urge to keep a grin off my face. Issun bounced right into Waka's waiting hand. "What's the matter with you tw-HEY!"

"I don't think I need you to do my job for me, my bouncing friend." The prophet smirked. Issun's glow quickly went straight from green to red. "But thank you for thinking about me."

"I wasn't _thinking about you, _you half-baked, flaky-"

Chibi doubled over on the floor, still giggling. I raised an eyebrow at the other Celestial Envoy.

"That's what it looks like to me. That's _nice _of you, Issun."

"_Nice_?! To _this guy_?!" Issun sputtered, bouncing off Waka's hand and onto my shoulder. "I'm surrounded by _lunatics_, I swear! What's gotten into you all?!"

I pushed myself up to my feet, taking care not to drop Issun onto the floor. "Do we have the all-clear?"

The Moontribesman's expression sobered. "In all technicality, we've been fully capable of leaving the cave for the past day."

"_What_?!" Chibi and I both leapt up. Waka raised his hands defensively.

"Let me finish. We were never 'trapped' in these caverns from a short while before the two... three of you defeated Akuro."

Chibi's hands tightened into fists, and I took hold of his arm with one hand.

"The Celestial Plain hasn't been restored in its entirety, so we'll be using these caverns as a... base of operations, shall we say, until further notice."

"Then at least tell us this. What's the state of the Celestial Plain as of right now, and what do we need to do this time to fix it?" I asked. The prophet pulled a scroll out of his sleeve and unrolled it, revealing a map of the floating island.

"We're right here, at the Plain's edge. Roughly five hours' walk from here is the Imperial Mountain, where several of the brush gods reside. Surrounding it is the northern half of the Golden Wood, cut off from its southern half-where we are-by the Celestial Plain's own version of the River of Stardust."

Chibi suddenly perked up. "And... to the east and west are Kabegami and Kazegami, right? Kazegami's windmill's over here, and Kabegami's tower is... here."

He pointed to two spots at opposite ends of the Plain, and his father nodded. "Exactly. But there are no gales blowing from the west, and some Catwalk marks that should cover the sides of these caves have vanished. Our main problem is that we're entirely cut off from all of these areas."

Issun began bouncing on my shoulder. "What do you mean, 'cut off'? You said we were in the Golden Woods right now, right?"

"Issun, it's just Wood."

"Whatever."

Waka folded his arms over his chest as Chibi took the map into his hands, tapping his flute against his shoulder. "The path to the Imperial Mountain? Cut off. The trails leading east and west from this half of the forest? The same. And the River of Stardust..."

"Just like the rest." I bit my lip. "How are they 'cut off'?"

Issun cut in to answer before Waka could. "Those... those demon barriers. There are demon barriers, like the walls we saw around cursed zones back in Nippon, all over the place."

"There's only one Guardian Sapling on the Celestial Plain." Chibi pointed out. "It's... it's south of here, where the Ark of Yamato is. But that means we can't even get to it."

I leaned back against the rock wall. "So, we're trapped in here for gods-know-how-long."

The Moon Tribesman had gone silent to let us talk, and now seemed lost in thought himself. The only sound in the entire cavern was of our breathing.

"But it's not a dead end, is it?" Issun spoke up again. "These caverns aren't cut off by any of the demon barriers. Can't we travel through the tunnel system and come out near the Guardian Sapling?"

Chibi traced his finger around the map. "I think... I think he's right. These caves come out all over the place. But we'd have to really know where we're going to use them, and this map only lists the entrances, not the paths."

The room fell silent again, only to be disturbed when a flurry of black, rotating squares began swirling in the room. They centered down to one tornado figure before exploding and revealing the deity of Termina. Blood trickled from a cut over his blank right eye.

"Good news," He grinned ruefully. "We've found a way through."

**0-0-0**

Outside, it was already a nighttime without a moon or stars. Chibi held up a ball of fire in his hand to light the way. Waka had stayed behind to watch Lily in case she woke up while we were gone.

We spent about ten minutes weaving through the trees, following the trail he had marked on the map. Issun bounced on my shoulder while I held the map up.

We didn't exactly need it-the demon wall was kind of hard to miss.

Issun had been half-right. It looked like a cross between a cursed zone barrier and the aura inside a demon gate, with the same symbols that bordered the arenas of demons floating along the surface like lily pads on water. It looked solid, but it may have just been because it was so dark out. Oni pressed a hand against the wall, and it phased right through.

"Amaterasu went on ahead." He explained. "This thing doesn't lead straight through to the River, but it doesn't lead into a cursed zone, either. You'll see what I mean."

Chibi, Issun and I exchanged glances before following. The barrier felt like tiny, hot needles were piercing us from every angle. The sensation passed, and... we weren't on the Celestial Plain anymore.

The air had gone from just cold to warm, heavy, and humid. Everything had taken on a sepia hue, and time itself seemed to have slowed around us.

I felt Chibi clutch my hand, his breath suddenly leaving him. "Guys? … It's not over, is it?"

Neither Issun nor I were able to answer him. We were too shocked to. Besides, the answer seemed clear.

We were back in Hana Valley.

**0-0-0-0-0**

_After over a month, we're back._

_Oh yes._

_It's with great pleasure that I announce that Project A.L.B.N. is back in action for the summer. Everyone hold on to your seatbelts, as I said earlier-it's going to be... __**a log and big thri-**__*smacked upside the head*  
_

**Lilac: Aaand it's time to skip straight to the review request. Please review, everyone.**


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